Alais is a carbonaceous chondrite that fell in southern France in 1806. Alais was the first recognized carbonaceous chondrite, and occurred just 3 years after the historic fall at L’Aigle convinced the scientific community that meteorites could, indeed, fall to Earth. On the late afternoon of March 15, 1806, residents of the rural communities of […]
Category: Meteorites
Lissa
Note: While we usually feature a meteorite that's fallen in the current month, our Curator, Dr. Laurence Garvie, liked this photo so much that we decided to share it now, rather than waiting. Lissa is an ordinary (L6) chondrite that fell at 3:30PM on September 3, 1808, in what is now the Czech Republic, near […]
Tagish Lake
Tagish Lake is a C2-ungrouped carbonaceous chondrite that fell in Canada in 2000. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB 84), the Tagish Lake fall was preceded by a bright fireball visible in northern British Columbia and the southern Yukon, and loud explosions the morning of January 18th, 2000. The meteoroid detonated at an altitude of […]
Dhajala
Dhajala is an ordinary chondrite (H3.8) that fell in Sayla Taluka, India. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin (MB55), at roughly 8:40pm on January 28, 1976, a very bright fireball was observed near Dhajala. The fireball was significantly brighter than the full moon that night, and made a hissing sound. Detonations were also heard, and the […]
Ivuna
Ivuna is a carbonaceous chondrite (CI1)that fell in Mbeya, Tanzania the evening of December 16, 1938. While multiple stones may have fallen, only one 705 g piece was ever recovered. Ivuna is the type specimen for the CI chondrite group of meteorites, which are extremely rare; only 9 are known to exist on Earth. CI […]
